BiographyShinYoung An has created her own art form of portraiture juxtaposing ordinary, routine tasks against a backdrop of current news articles that feature a variety of social, political, environmental issues and events. She is from South Korea and obtained her B.F.A in Korea. She has also studied at the Art Students League of NY and “Cercle Artistic de Sant Lluc” in Barcelona, Spain after receiving her M.F.A in painting from The Graduate School of Figurative Art of the New York Academy of Art in 2001.Ms. An has had solo exhibitions at the Bergen Performing Arts Center in 2014, at the Azarian McCullough Art Gallery of St. Thomas Aquinas College in 2013, at the M. Christina Geis Gallery of Georgian Court University in 2010, the Monmouth Museum in 2009, a Greenwich Village gallery in 2007 and “La Bolsa” Gallery in Barcelona, Spain 2004, and about 80 invitational and juried group exhibitions throughout the USA, Italy, Spain, Japan and South Korea since arriving in the US in 1995 including the Noyes Museum, the New Jersey State Museum, the Kupferberg Holocaust Museum, the Monmouth Museum, the Huston Museum of Natural Science, the Trenton City Museum and the Cork Gallery in Lincoln Center.She has been awarded approximately 30 awards from national and international competitions including a 2011 Fellowship grant from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, Best of Show 2004 from the Hartland Exhibition of the City of Merriam in Kansas, Best of Show 2005 for Focus on the Figure at Hopper House, NY, Xavier Gonzalez &amp; Edwards Grant for Painting from the Artists League of NY, 2003. Ms. An's work has been reviewed and published in more than 38 critical articles throughout the US, Spain, South Korea , the UK, Italy, Germany and Australia. She was also interviewed by eFM English radio in South Korea and represented the state of New Jersey on www.figure50.com

Artist StatementSerious artists are constantly reinventing themselves, as they strive to achieve an illusive vision of "great art". Often, world and national events impose an emotional response on the artist, who isotherwise powerless to influence such events. The canvas can become the artist's vehicle of expression

I am an artist in transition. In the past, I have attempted to faithfully record my subject, with an emotional response limited only to that subject. In portraiture, for example, the challenge has been to produce a work that reflects my response to the personality of the sitter. I can no longer ignore the effect that outside events are having on me.

I am now attempting to do paintings that convey my emotional response to such events. It is not always easy to move away from that which you are comfortable with to explore a new area. In life, one needs to progress and let go of the past, in order to achieve something greater.

The main theme of my recent work is exploring the unfortunate reality of our present world. While reading the newspaper, articles began affecting me to the point that I realized I am a somewhat powerless artist and I wanted this to be reflected in my work. It has given me the opportunity to respond to social and environmental issues. I depict these reactions through the visual interaction of hands and feet, face and flowers painted against a backdrop of current news articles that have provoked me.